2009-02-21 - Heavy News
:::2009-02-21 - Heavy News The docking bay of the Crysblade is relatively...quiet, for being such a big ship. Techs and pilots come and go with the usual discussion of fighters and such, but there isn't quite as much bustle and scrambling as there is on some ships in the Navy. Perched atop a crate near the Mantan Ray, Kittypet and a few Mon Calamari bodyguards nearby, is Nissa. Raxan enters, a little confused: Summoned to Taanab? When all the problems seem to be happening on Coruscant? It's pretty strange. He sees Nissa and gives a wave to her: "Hello, Nissa." he says.... "Big speech for MT tomorrow? Care to give me a sneak peek." A grin is given as he gazes on the docking bay. A few of the guards turn, but seem to relax as they recognize Raxan. One actually gives the admiral a firm pat on the shoulder before he moves off. It seems her husband's paranoia might have finally caught up with Nissa. She smiles a bit as she spots Raxan, waving a bit tiredly. "Good to see you, Rax," she says. She then laughs softly. "I'm not entirely sure what Meena has planned, but...I know a bit." "What, you guys don't talk?" Rax adds with a bit of humor: "If I was married to MT, that'd be the first answer I'd ask. What do you think he's going to do? The news about Sho’lar is definitely getting out... most people know about it already." Nissa chuckles, slight amusement in her eyes. "Of course we talk, but we've only been married a /week/..." she says, and then pauses. Best not give Raxan a reason to tease. She then sighs a little. "I know the reason for speech, at least most of it. I am just unsure of exactly how he'll word everything. But...part of the reason I asked you to come was about that. And, well...I have some news." "I mean, aside from Coruscant under martial law and Sho’lar becoming an anti-Jedi martyr." Raxan adds. He then leans on one of the crafts and adds, "So, what's the news?" Anneke is coming walking down into the docking bay with her bodyguards. They are making their way towards one of the ships. Though when they see Nissa and Raxan here. They pause. "Are you pregnant? MT works fast!" Rax adds. Nissa's attention drifts for a moment, and she smiles and offers a slight wave to Anneke when she sees her. She then sighs a little, move to explain...and then stops. A quick look to Raxan, and her color darkens. "What?" is the first thing she asks, and she blinks, "Wait, wait, wait...erm, no. No...definitely not." She hunches her shoulders a bit, trying to look smaller where she perches on the crate. A few of her guards try to hide smiles. "No, that's not it. It's something a bit more...surprising." Meena Tills brings his ship to a landing and emerges slowly. He looks tired. Very tired. "More surprising? More surprising then you being pregnant?" Raxan says, incredibly. "I mean...." And then he has a thought, putting his hands on his mouth. "MT's not the father, is he? You can tell me... it'll be our secret." Anneke has a look on her face like she thinks she should just be back in bed. This whole situation seems far too surreal. Nope. Bedtime. Bed is good. Really. She must be sleeping again. Not on her way to start a quarantine. Meena Tills happens to have come down behind Raxan. And he has sharp ears. He comes walking slowly toward Raxan, from behind, where he may not know he is there. Nissa hasn't yet seen the docking of the other ship. She seems to sputter a bit at Raxan's next words, even as the guards snicker their pretty little heads off. "No, it's...hells," she mutters, finally noticing the ship. She quickly kicks the shin of Raxan's that is closest to her boot. "Shush!" "Ow!!!" Raxan rubs his shin: "Okay, well... uhh, blink once if he /is/ the daddy. Blink twice if he /isn't/. He stares intently at her eyes. Shh, our little secret. Anneke ends up just stopping then, and sitting down. She's gonna have to talk soon anyways, there's people here. May as well regain her strength while the weirdness is happening. Meena Tills stops just behind Raxan. Since his helmet is off, the amused look on his face should be visible to Nissa. Nissa doesn't bother pointing to the Shadowhawke, to let Raxan know that Meena is here /somewhere/. Probably hearing them. But she doesn't quite seem to realize he's eavesdropping behind the two of them. "Raxan! Why in the world would I run off with...after just getting married!" she says, a bit flustered. And blushing. All other arguments seem forgotten. "I'm not pregnant!" She looks around ready to tackle the admiral to end the discussion quickly. Raxan looks confused: "Well, what can be bigger news than that? Is... MT pregnant? I mean... I really don't understand Calamari anatomy /that/ much." Meena Tills just stands there, the amusement flickering on his face. Anneke reaches up to massage her temples. This just got even more weird. She looks to one of her guards now and asks, "I'm not really asleep, am I? I feel like I should be." The guard, a younger Alderaanian says, "M'Lady... I'm asking myself that same question." "What? No, of course...not," Nissa counters, ready to knock Raxan of the crate, and then falls quiet. Thoughts turning in her head, and she covers her face with a hand. "Holy rachnois...no. He's already paranoid enough, but...no!" She then looks up as one of her guards clears their throat, and points behind her. Nissa frowns, and twists around...and her color darkens considerably. Meena Tills laughs. And laughs. Raxan turns around like the cat that ate the canary: "Oh... hey MT. Well..." he clears his throat, "How bout that conference tomorrow?" Nissa just sits there. Her color considerably darker as she buries her face in her hands. She looks like she's trying to hide laughter, though. "Welcome back, dear," is all she manages, before she glares at Raxan...and move to push him off her durasteel crate. "Off my crate, find your own...crazy as hell blasted males..." She's clearly amused despite the embarrassment, though. But still seething. "Maybe I should go back to the med bay... this took more effort than I thought." Anneke says softly to her guards. The energy of the amusing things happening exhausting her though proximity alone! Meena Tills looks to Nissa, and gets his composure back. "Greetings, dear." He looks to Raxan. "You'll need to be prepared for tomorrow," he adds simply. "It's going to be the start of a rough ride." Raxan nods, "Of course. Coruscant is under martial law..... we'll have to patrol the spaceways there now... the Jedi are needing to be protected. We'll have to hunt down who's doing this..." He then lists off some ideas for how the three of them can work together. Meena Tills stands still a moment. "Yes. And you're likely to be the acting head of the Navy when most of it goes down. Nissa and I are going to submit our resignations." Anneke sighs softly, but doesn't seem to reveal why she is doing so. As she isn't getting up to actually leave yet either... Nissa coughs, and clears her throat. She gets her own composure back as well, looking toward Raxan. Her expression turns apologetic, and she sighs a little. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner, Raxan," she offers. She glances up, before waving to Anneke to come closer, if she wants. Pregnancy - MTs or Nissa's - would've been easier: "What!?" Raxan says, astonished, "But... the galaxy needs you two? Why would you resign now?!" Anneke stands up and says softly. "And that's why if they don't... the galaxy is going to suffer even worse." Anneke says this in an exhausted, anguished sort of way. But with a shocking amount of wisdom in the tone as she makes her way to sit by Nissa. Meena Tills grimaces. "It is ... complicated." He says quietly. "But there will be a search for scapegoats. Too many bad things have happened on my watch. If I simply hang on to power, that won't do any good at all. The Senate needs to see someone take responsibility." Raxan still looks exasperated: "But, what do you two even have to do with it?" He says, "And... I can't run the navy! I mean... at least wait until the crisis has passed." Meena Tills says, "Would you rather Dash L'hnnar have direct authority, above and beyond his commander in chief status?"" Nissa shifts to sit up straighter, resting a hand on Anneke's shoulder as she sits down. "Again, I'm sorry, Rax," she says softly. "There are...too many factors to count. But the Galaxy is heading towards something...unexpected. Meena and I have tried our best to keep things together, and we don't know if we can do it anymore." "And I never could." Anneke says softly, leaning over to rest her head against Nissa. "I won't survive much longer here." She whispers, almost, completely fatalistic. "And there's a lot of people who won't either... especially if we don't." Rax shakes his head, "No... that's too much power for one man to have..." He pauses and adds, "But, where are you going to go? To Calamari? And what are you going to say tomorrow: 'We quit, Peace Out' is going to enflame the galaxy. Can we at least keep you as a figurehead?" Nissa wraps and arm around Anneke's shoulders, almost protectively, giving the girl a reassuring squeeze. "It weighs on the heart and soul, Raxan," she says quietly, "Some of the things all of us have gone through. I don't want to leave...anything, in anyone's lap. You may or may not be asked to lead the Navy, I don't know. But it is your decision, if it comes." She then sighs, shaking her head. "That is another part of the news, but..." She looks to Meena, eyes questioning. Anneke sighs and says to Raxan. "Unfortunately, it's that or have a much worse charge... The Republic plans to charge them in the affair with the bombing of the hospital unless they resign." There, Anneke says it flat out. And she's looking -very- distant as she does this. Like even though it needs to be said, mentally, she wants to distance herself from it entirely. "If they resign, there'll be no trial, and the scapegoat is made." A pause, "If they don't... either they don't get off and much worse happens, or they do and more riots break out and hatred against all Mon Calamari, probably." Meena Tills stirs. "And there are other considerations. I'm going to have to ask you to trust me, Raxan, that I'm doing what I'm doing after a lot of thought, and not happily, but that it is, I think, the best way to avoid worse things for all of us. What else is underway will become public within a week of my speech tomorrow. I could tell you more; but if I do, you will have to swear to keep it under wraps until that time passes." Raxan frowns, "You guys can fight it! The military and the government know---- wait." He says, raising his hand, "If you both resign, it leaves a huge power vacuum. Who's left in the government that we can trust?" He pauses, thinking: "Well, if you guys can still advise me.... I suppose we can make this work." Meena Tills sighs. "Right now, Dash L'hnnar is Chancellor and Grand Moff. He already holds nearly all the power, by law, Raxan. When I and Nissa resign, he will no doubt begin to excise that authority more vigorously. I'm not thrilled with that. But the alternatives are probably worse. Do you think Sho'lar was the first high republic official that the unseen enemy has tried to kill? No. Just the first successful hit." "We've...put all we can into the government and the military," Nissa says, tapping her heel absently against the crate. "There isn't much else we can do be sure everyone is prepared." She pauses, then nods to Meena's words. "And I'd rather face another angry krakana then take the chance of one us here getting stab, stabbed, lightsabered, or anything else as unpleasant. The krakana was easy compared to what we face now." Raxan nods, "Okay... okay. Well, okay, I'll run it, and I'll keep you on a ship. We'll have daily holo-meetings... just the three of us. Completely secure..." "After the party... I was attacked. I only just recovered, and two days ago... I was attacked again." Anneke says with another soft sigh. "I doubt I can survive another attack. They'll come again." She shudders. Meena Tills shakes his head slowly. "You're going to have to run things as best you can, if you're the ranking officer," he replies simply. "Nissa and I may not be available for very long. I don't actually know that I'll survive a week if I don't just keep myself locked on a ship right now." Raxan nods: "Alright, we're going to protect you all. We'll get our best security details... 24/7. Unless this person owns a planetary army, they aren't touching any of you." He ponders, "It might be an advantage... nobody has ever heard of me." Meena Tills shakes his head. "No, Raxan. That won't work. You'll need to do your job in the navy. It's our job to keep ourselves and our people safe." "I never have my retinue with me, Raxan...not ever," Nissa says quietly, "But I've taken them off the Felissa because of what happened yesterday. Even I'm nervous about what could happen in the next few days, even the next week...but he's right. We can take care of ourselves as best we can. You should keep your focus on other things, for now." She looks toward Neke, perhaps to be sure she's still with them, and not fallen asleep or anything. Anneke is still here, but she's shaking. As much as she tries to distance herself, it's not easy. Though she does finally say, "If... if you swear it now... you could be told the rest... but... you'd have to swear it to Mr. Tills." She says. Raxan nods, "I swear. Who would I even tell?" He pauses: "Wait... there's more?" Meena Tills says, "Yes." The admiral inhales, leaning on the crate: "Alright. Hit me with it." Nissa nods slowly to Raxan. She shifts, twisting to remove her coat with Anneke sitting so close. One accomplished, she drapes the garment about Anneke's shoulders and hugs her close. "There is," she says, taking a deep breath, "We're...leaving." Graham steps into the docking chamber looking about. The white robed man makes his movements towards Nissa nodding to each but remaining silent as he watches and listens intently. He seems to be right in time for another to be told the news. Meena Tills takes a breath. This is the hardest part, always, this conversation. One gets the sense from his attitude that it is one he has had more times than he cares to have on Mon Calamari already. "Leaving?" Raxan says, "Like... leaving what? You've already left the Navy. You going to go retire on a farm on Corellia or something?" He adds, "I mean... we can still holo-chat." He pinches himself to make sure he's dreaming. It looks hard for Anneke too, and she somehow looks more weary and tired than ever. "No, we're going. We're leaving the Republic. We've lost! We're going into Exile, somewhere far away, different Galaxy." Anneke just breaks it quickly. Meena Tills says, "Researchers working for Mon Calamari security have developed a method for a large fleet to scout hyperjumps across intergalactic space. It requires a very large fleet and massive support personnel, and years of feeling your way through the void between Galaxies."" Nissa is quiet for a long moment, deep apology in her eyes as she looks to Raxan. "I'm sorry," she offers quietly, before she closes her eye a moment. "We're not just...retiring, as they said. We're leaving this galaxy for good, my friend. In a very short amount of time." The words come slowly. Meena Tills says, "With a large colony from Mon Calamari." "What!?" Raxan shouts, exasperated: "You can't just quit!" He pauses, pacing around: "So... that's it? 'Peace Out, Good luck with the whole galaxy thing'!? This galaxy needs you. /I/ need you. Everything we've worked towards...." He pauses, "What about Mon Calamari? You going to put the whole planet from the damn ship and just leave? What's going to happen to the planet?" Meena Tills says, "It will be left better defended than it is now." "With half its population and its leaders gone?" Raxan interrupts. Meena Tills grimaces. "We can't take that many." Anneke's face is running with tears right now. She knew this would be hard. And though Raxan's been very nice to her, she fears how much worse it will be with those she knows better. "There's... just no chance... We're targets... too hated. The fact... fact I'm sensitive... to the Force'll end my life. and the Jedi. And others tried to defend us... theirs too. And our planets." Meena Tills is stoic. "Now you see why I wasn't really wanting to make a general announcement," he says grimly. "But the fact is that Mon Calamari is more of a target if I lead it, than if it seems ... less important. And in a galaxy where Frashkarts and Oonas happen, being a low priority target has its point. I am hated by so many. Mon Calamari, without me, is not such a target. And a colony beyond the reach of the danger is worth much to Dac." Nissa tensions where she it, taking slow, deep breaths. "We've done all we can for this galaxy, Rax," she says softly, sorrow in her voice. "We've fought for it, lost people and bits of ourselves for it, and still chaos is coming." She falls quiet, shaking her head. "And with what happened yesterday? I don't want to die, Raxan. I don't want my friends and family to die, to suffer, to live in fear. It all becomes too much at some point, and we've reached that.” Raxan seems furious, "Alright, you three take the top 10 percent of your planet and let the galaxy burn. I'm going to stay and find out who's being the chaos here, and stop it, even if it kills me." He looks at them, "You know why? I took an oath to this galaxy to defend it, and I'll do it till the last breath I take." Meena Tills sighs slowly. "My first oath was to protect my people, Raxan. I will tell you everything I know. You won't like it. The plot that thickens around us has been in preparation for generations. Our generations. Its author has long life beyond the natural order." "Take top ten, or less." Anneke says. " Ain't them from Taanab, if anyone... It'll just be some of the nomad tribes who were sick of Taanab being more noticed by the rest of the Galaxy. Or wait... and because of what I am, who I am, and what I've done, have the planet conquered, killed." Graham watches only listening as they speak he seems rather fallen or at least in deep thought standing by the other two as they all speak. The white robed man sighs a bit knowing this is hardest on those around those leaving he thinks upon the ones he must tell and sighs more defeated. Raxan glares at Graham, "I assume the proud Jedi will be retreating with the rest of them. That must be the last tenet of the Jedi Order: 'When things get tough, we retreat'. Well, fine. I'm sure once you pass the galaxy barrier, we'll be out of your minds. But..." He looks at the three of them: "Maybe, when you're in the new galaxy, your thoughts will drift to the people you left for this great evil." He looks almost in tears: "I started as a young ensign with you three.... and I'll never forget you. You gave me your first chance, and I'll always love you for it. But... not right now." He then storms off.